Kayobi had a sparkling conclusion to his 2022 season in Australia, winning his final three starts from mid-June to mid-October. The start of his 2023 campaign could be quite lucrative.
Kayobi will start as a slight favorite in the $100,000 Midway Provincial Championship qualifier at Gosford Racecourse on Wednesday evening. If Kayobi finishes in the first two in a full field of 16, he will qualify for the $334,000 final at seven furlongs at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on April 7.
At the age of 9, the five-time Grade 1 winner Shishkin has undergone a career change this year.
Gone are the two-mile races that led to 10 consecutive wins from early 2020 to early 2022, replaced by starts in chases at 2 1/2 miles.
The slightly longer races seem to be a good fit for Shishkin, who will start as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at about 2 1/2 miles at Cheltenham Racecourse in England on Thursday.
The Ryanair Chase is one of three Grade 1 races on the third day of the four-day Cheltenham festival, held 100 miles west of London.
When they stick together, the steeplechaser Edwardstone and jockey Tom Cannon have often been a dangerous duo in Britain in the last 18 months.
In 10 starts in two-mile chases, they have won six races, including three Grade 1 stakes, and finished second twice.
The consistency has left Edwardstone as Britain’s leading chance in Wednesday’s Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase at two miles at Cheltenham Racecourse, the leading race on the second day of the four-day National Hunt festival.
The Irish-bred geldings Oz Legend and Tip of the Spear met for the first time when they finished first and second in a handicap at 1 1/2 miles at Warwick Farm Racecourse in Australia on Feb. 23.
They may have a budding rivalry. Oz Legend and Tip of the Spear are reunited as part of a tougher field of rivals in a handicap at the same marathon distance at Warwick Farm on Tuesday evening.
Tip of the Spear was beaten slightly more than a half-length as the 3-2 favorite on Feb. 23 and was the early favorite at 2-1 on Monday morning. Oz Legend was 9-2 in a field of nine.
A stakes winner in France last month, Brave Emperor will be favored to win for the fifth time in his seventh start in the $72,600 Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes at Kempton Park near London on Wednesday.
The Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes is part of the qualifying points series for a European-based runner for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6. The race offers 20-8-6-4-2 points to the first five finishers.
It will be cold, wet and windy - and record crowds may still attend.
When the National Hunt festival for chasers and hurdlers begins on Tuesday at Cheltenham Racecourse 100 miles west of London, a crowd of more than 68,000 is expected to watch the first of four seven-race programs through Friday that are the highlight of British jump racing each winter.
The Irish shippers, and their legions of devoted supporters, consider Cheltenham a good time, too.
After a delay in 2022, the career debut of High Plateau turned out to be worth the wait in Australia last month.
High Plateau closed from last in a field of five to win a maiden race at five furlongs at Kembla Grange Racecourse.
Owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by James Cummings, the 4-year-old High Plateau has an excellent chance to remain unbeaten when he starts against winners for the first time in a five-furlong handicap at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Monday evening.
Sacramento won the Canberra Cup at Canberra Racecourse in Australia last year to end a five-race losing streak.
The 6-year-old Sacramento was the 3-1 favorite in early betting Saturday to win the $131,500 Canberra Cup on Sunday evening and once again needs a victory to end a nine-race losing streak dating to last year’s race.
The Canberra Cup is run at 1 1/4 miles and is part of an eight-race program at Canberra that begins at 10:26 p.m. Eastern, or 7:26 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
The powerful training partnership of Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse have two leading contenders in the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at Canberra Racecourse in Australia on Saturday evening, a team led by the unraced filly Autumn Ballet.
Autumn Ballet won a training race at about 4 1/2 furlongs from the gate at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse by more than 7 1/2 lengths on Feb. 27, finishing the last three furlongs in 34.22 seconds.
